Abstract
I am an ardent aviculturist from Chennai (Madras), a city of seven million people situated in the southern pan of India. I am also a keen reader of books on aviculture.
I acquired two Green-winged Macaws (Ara cbloroptera) in the year 1991. When they came to me, I knew neither their age nor their sex. I had them DNA-sexed and, fortunately, they turned out to be a true pair.
They were given a large aviary - JS' long, 61 wide, 16' high. In the top portion of this aviary, they were provided a small room, 8' long, 61 wide, and 61 high, and offered a beer barrel for nest box.
Until 1996, the pair did not show any interest in breeding. In July 1996, however, the female laid two eggs but these were infertile. After this, she would play with the male hut never seemed busy with the beer barrel.
In 2000, the Green-winged pair started showing an interest in preparing the nest box. By May 2000, two eggs were laid. This time too, the eggs were found to be infertile.
Fertility, Challenges and Response
I was so disappointed that I thought of getting another adult male for my female macaw. But she surprised us by laying three eggs on the 4th, 7th and 10th of June. I was extremely happy to see that one of the three eggs was fertile and I immediately corrected my thinking about the suitability of this male. Whal was even better, the hen proved extremely good in brooding.
The egg hatched on the 30th of June, 2000. The chick was removed for handfeeding on the 27th of July.
Within 20 clays, the hen started again. Like the last time, she laid three eggs - on the 16th, 19th, and 22nd of August 2000. This time, all three eggs were fertile and all three hatched. The pair feel the first two chicks well, but the third chick looked weak and emaciated.
To remove the third chick for hand feeding, we had no choice but to disturb the pair in the nest box. The parents were emotionally upset but we could not help it. We removed the third chick and found it weighed only 42 grams when seven days old. Normally it should have weighed about 100 grams at this stage. The second chick was clearly not getting proper nourishment from the parents, so it was removed for hand feeding on its 15th clay. Only the first chick was under the parent Macaws' care ..
On the first chick's 55th day, we noticed a parental had habit. The pair was pulling the new blood feathers from the chick and chewing them. The chick looked bald and pathetic. So the first chick too was removed for handfeecling.